The NeverEnding Story to Continue With New Live-Action Film Adaptations
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
More live-action films based on Michael Ende’s classic fantasy literature, The NeverEnding Story, are on the way from See-Saw Films.
The company announced the projects on X/Twitter today, confirming plans to bring new film versions of the beloved 1979 story to moviegoers in the future. No release date, cast, or crew has been announced.
“Today we are unbelievably excited to announce that See-Saw Films is going into partnership with Michael Ende Productions to develop and produce live action films adapted from Michael Ende’s The NeverEnding Story!” See-Saw announced.
“Every generation deserves a journey into Fantastica”. Let the story of all stories begin!📖✨ pic.twitter.com/xT6QqbrBuI
— See-Saw Films (@see_saw_films) March 20, 2024
Though The NeverEnding Story began as a book series in the late ‘70s, the fantasy property is probably best known by the Wolfgang Peterson-directed movie trilogy that released in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The three whimsical films hold a special place in the hearts of pop-culture fans everywhere, so much so that even if you’re not familiar with the story itself, there’s a good chance you’ve seen it referenced in other media. See-Saw, which has made a name for itself with projects like Widows, The King’s Speech, The Power of the Dog, and Slow Horses, now has an opportunity to retell those stories for modern audiences.
The company’s Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are producing the new NeverEnding Story projects along with Michael Ende Productions’ Roman Hocke and Ralph Gassmann. Canning and Gassmannspoke with Variety about See-Saw’s adaptations and the importance of the IP.
“The story is both timely and timeless, and really has an opportunity to be told in a fresh way,” Canning said. “And part of the specialness of the book is that you can go back to it at different ages in your life and find different levels of meaning. So how wonderful that we have this opportunity to do a fresh perspective that will have new layers and meanings. We just believe that every generation deserves their own journey into Fantastica.”
Gassman adds that Michael Ende Productions has received interest in adapting The NeverEnding Story from the television and film industry for a while, but it wasn’t until recently that they decided to move forward with a new project.
“So then we looked at hundreds and hundreds of requests and just thought, let’s see if we find a potential partner amongst them that is so compelling that they make us jump into the boat with them and go on this crazy adventure. But we knew we had to do it right and find the right partner, and luckily See-Saw was amongst them.”
If you’re looking for more from The NeverEnding Story, be sure to check out the time Stranger Things dedicated an entire music segment to the original movie.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
